Latinos make up 12.5 percent of the U.S. population. They are now the largest (and fastest-growing) racial or ethnic minority group in the United States, surpassing blacks, who make up 12.3 percent of the population. In higher education, however, Latino groups are underrepresented. According to the 2002 "Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac", they account for just over 7 percent of undergraduates. Graduate-student representation is even more distressing, and less than 3 percent of Latinos obtain Ph.D's. Consequently, they make up less than 3 percent of the U.S. professoriate. These percentages show explicitly that, given their representation in the U.S. population, Latinos are seriously underrepresented on faculty bodies. They imply that Latinos are not as qualified as other racial or ethnic groups in higher education or they are victims of discrimination. The percentages, therefore, do not merely describe a particular state of reality; they also "explain" other, perhaps contested, "realities." Thus they generate truths, both negative and positive, about individuals and groups that many do not and cannot know personally. This article suggests that the term "outsider within" is not quite right as a descriptor of racial and ethnic dynamics in higher education. The outsider within, it seems, has that status only because he or she is not white, and not because the person is completely excluded from academe. (Contains 1 note.)[This article was produced by American Association of University Professors.]